UConn fans woke up to some good news this morning when 247 recruiting guru Evan Daniels announced that top-50 big man Adama Sanogo will be joining the Huskies next year.
Four-star center Adama Sanogo just verbally committed to UConn and is reclassifying to the 2020 recruiting class, he tells @247Sports. | Story: https://t.co/TQokUhVstL pic.twitter.com/jKRiUBRexk
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) May 5, 2020
Sanogo’s recruiting battle had been red hot in recent weeks, with Nebraska and Seton Hall each appearing to have the upper hand at times. And despite Sanogo being written off as unlikely by many UConn insiders (including most of us at ADB), UConn assistant coach Kimani Young had apparently been working overtime to convince Sanogo that Storrs was the place for him. Upon completing a “virtual visit” over the videoconferencing app Zoom, Sanogo made the call.
After a season that saw the Huskies end the year with only seven healthy players and two big men, and with key forwards Tyler Polley and Akok Akok coming off major injuries, Dan Hurley clearly saw frontcourt depth as key. Now the Huskies will see returning seniors Josh Carlton and Isaiah Whaley joined by Sanogo, fellow reclassifying big man Javonte Brown-Ferguson, and redshirt freshman Richie Springs (who himself had reclassified from 2020 to 2019 a year ago).
For his part, the 6’9″, 250-pound Sanogo brings raw power and toughness that were sorely needed up front in recent seasons, and he has shown signs of being a potentially dominant rebounder. If he’s able to develop quickly, he could find himself in the starting lineup early on as a freshman.
Additionally, this recruiting coup has to have Husky fans feeling confident about Hurley and his staff. Seton Hall, a program with serious momentum in recent seasons, is a 15-minute drive from Sanogo’s high school. Kevin Willard’s staff made Sanogo a huge priority, and Hurley and Young still managed to pluck him away. This must be particularly painful for Seton Hall fans, most of whom remember the years of irrelevance they wallowed in while UConn was dominating the Big East in the 90s and 2000s. With UConn officially re-joining the league this summer, Seton Hall fans have to be concerned about recruiting going forward.
Assuming no more defections, this will complete Hurley’s 2020 recruiting class, and what a class it is. In addition to Sanogo, Brown-Ferguson, and Springs joining the active roster next year, the Huskies also have an explosive four-star wing in Andre Jackson and a high-scoring transfer guard in RJ Cole, giving UConn arguably its most talented roster since the 2015-2016 season. This doesn’t even include URI transfer Tyrese Martine, whose eligibility is still to be determined. Assuming college basketball happens next year, the Huskies appear ready to hit the ground running in the Big East and beyond.
